Chef

Chef - Dir. Jon Favreau (2014)

Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) is the head chef of a trendy bistro in Venice Beach and things are looking up for him. He's about unveil a brand new menu to herald the arrival of renowned food critic Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt, whose brother, Adam, is a food critic for New York magazine), the blogger who raved about Casper's work a decade ago. Alas, the restaurant's owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman) demands Casper stick to the regular menu, which includes caviar-topped egg and a chocolate lava cake. It backfires as Michel lambasts the stale food and manages to insult Casper's weight, "…he must be eating all the food sent back to the kitchen."

Casper storms into the restaurant when Michel returns and launches into a heated tirade that is captured by numerous cell phones and uploaded to YouTube. He becomes persona non grata in the LA food scene just as he becomes an internet sensation. Looking for a fresh start, Casper reluctantly accompanies his ex-wife, Inez (Sofia Vergara), and son, Percy (EmJay Anthony), on a trip to Miami. Once there, he purchases a decrepit food truck and turns it into the snazzy El Jefe, serving up cubanos and arroz con pollo. This new venture reinvigorates Chef Casper's passion for cooking as well as repairing his strained relationship with Percy as they make the cross-country trip back to the west coast.

The plot of Chef draws immediate parallels to Jon Favreau's own career as a filmmaker. He made a splash as the writer and producer of Swingers before following it up with his directorial debut Made. Since then, his profile in commercial films has grown with Elf and the runaway success of Iron Man, which set the foundation for Marvel's cinematic universe. However, it was clear Favreau was not the primary decision maker anymore for Iron Man 2 and Cowboys & Aliens met with tepid reactions from audiences and critics alike. With Chef, Favreau has returned to his indie roots and created a comedy/drama driven by rich characters rather than expensive CGI.

At the heart of Chef is the relationship between father and son, the latter of whom is played without a hint of precociousness by EmJay Anthony. To Favreau's credit, he doesn't go the easy route by painting Casper as an insensitive prick. He's just a workaholic and a little oblivious from time to time. Watching the two together is just one of the joys of Chef, along with Casper's interactions with other characters, such as Bobby Cannavale and John Leguizamo as two of his kitchen comrades or Scarlett Johansson in a small role as a comely hostess. Sofia Vergera gives a more natural performance as compared to the over-the-top antics we usually see from her on Modern Family. Favreau also made sure to call in Iron Man for assistance as Robert Downey Jr. pops in for a cameo as Inez's eccentric ex-husband. He makes everyone who visits his office wear surgical booties over their shoes, including his leggy assistant's six-inch stilettos. Amy Sedaris should not be overlooked for her cameo as an overly tanned publicist trying to get Casper to sign on to a cheesy reality show ala Gordon Ramsay.

Of course, what would any self-respecting chef movie be without mouth-watering cuisine? Chef is food porn cinema right up there with Eat Drink Man Woman, Tampopo, and Big Night. Chef Roy Choi of Kogi BBQ fame not only served as a consultant, but tutored Favreau in gastronomical ways. The director lovingly preps, cooks, and plates numerous delicacies and these sequences are intricately shot and cut, even for something as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich. You'll want to toss those stale movie theater concessions to the sticky floor when you watch Favreau slice into a juicy, rare steak or curl pasta around his fork. Chef brings the local flavor by shooting on location in Miami, New Orleans, and Austin with El Jefe tailoring their menu to each city. You'll get fresh beignets in the French Quarter and beef brisket for you fanatics of Texas barbecue.

Dustin Hoffman makes an excellent point when he tells Casper that people would riot at a Rolling Stones concert if Mick Jagger didn't sing "Satisfaction." While Favreau clearly enjoyed the freedom of independent film, he never lambastes the idea of playing it safe or sticking to the hits. Chef is comfort food, a pleasant, lightweight comedy. There are no high stakes and very little conflict, which isn't a bad thing though the ending is too pat and hews too closely to Ratatouille.

Rating: *** (*****)

Source Code

Source Code - Dir. Duncan Jones (2011)

Duncan Jones obviously has a great passion for sci-fi having made a spectacular debut as a filmmaker with Moon, one of the best films of 2009. He must have had a unique childhood as the son of David Bowie, who was like a science fiction character come to life. Not surprising that Bowie was chosen to play an alien in Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth.

While Jones has several original projects in the works, Source Code is based on a script by Ben Ripley, whose only previous credits include Species III and Species: The Awakening. Not exactly an illustrious resume. Jones’ second film follows the trajectory of many new directors. Source Code is a more mainstream movie with a bigger budget and bigger stars. Often times, those aren’t necessarily advantages, but Jones doesn’t fall into the sophomore slump even if Source Code isn’t as strong or thought-provoking as Moon.

Jake Gyllenhaal is cast as Capt. Colter Stevens (an awesome action hero name), an Army helicopter pilot previously stationed in Afghanistan. He is shocked to awaken inside the body of a high school teacher named Sean Fentress, who is on board a Chicago-bound train. Before he can understand what is happening, the train explodes and Stevens finds himself strapped into a capsule where he is greeted by Air Force Capt. Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga). Stevens is a part of a bold new experiment called Source Code, developed by the cold Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright). Source Code isn’t time travel, but it does allow the subject to relive events (eight minutes in length) by building from the final memories of the dead. Everyone on the train was killed by a bomb and another will go off in the city unless Stevens finds the culprit. Disoriented with little information to go on Stevens is hurtled back and forth until he can complete his mission. At the same time, he must also unravel the mystery of how he came to be apart of the Source Code project.

The best way to describe Source Code would be a melding of 12 Monkeys, Memento, and Groundhog Day. There’s also a dash of Quantum Leap thrown in and they even cast Scott Bakula for a brief voice-over cameo. It’s a high concept actioner in the vein of Inception. Unlike Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus, Source Code isn’t bogged down by endless exposition. Its inventor succintly states Source Code involves quantum physics and would take weeks to explain to the layman. There is just no time to science lessons when a nuke is about to kill millions. Honestly, the whole idea doesn’t make a lick of sense if you really think about it, which means the movie has to keep you engaged long enough so that you don’t poke through the plot holes.

At approximately 90 minutes, Source Code moves at a quick enough pace that the audience doesn’t have time to question the very nature of the Source Code. Each “do-over” is varied enough to avoid tedious repetition. The lead characters are well-defined with Jake Gyllenhaal doing an excellent job at playing the idealistic hero. Michelle Monaghan is also good as Christina, a friend of Sean’s who gradually becomes the love interest for Stevens. Warm and sweet-natured, it’s easy to see why he would fall for her. Jones grounds the film’s outlandish plot by focusing on the love story between the two. Both Jeffrey Wright and Vera Farmiga turn in strong performances, despite their brief and clichéd roles. Aside from the main players, the film noticeably lacks a memorable supporting cast. Unlike the comparable Speed, the other passengers on the train lack distinct personalities as such there is a lack of sympathy for their fates and a loss of dramatic tension in the mystery of the bomber.

Source Code has a unique premise and a powerful opening sequence, but features an ending that leaves more questions than it does answers.

Rating: *** (*****)

SPOILER ALERT: Click on comments section for discussion of ending.